Justin “Smiley” Mulvihill, president of Public Disturbance Car Club, and Nick Pueschel, sergeant of Public Disturbance Car Club, have dedicated themselves to give back to the community since their club’s re-founding in 2021.
Public Disturbance Car Club slowly came to be by Smiley, Pueschel, and their friends hanging out in 2007. Around this time, the first few Fast and Furious movies had been out, they were referred to as the “fast and furious generation.”
“All of us had cars, all of us were obsessed with cars, [and] decided we were gonna make a car club out of it,” said Pueschel.
With the original club, named from Pueschel’s mom’s idea, the members weren’t quite the best they could have been.
“[It] started here because we were always together anyway, but yet we were kind of a nuisance back then,” said Smiley.
They did what may come to mind with the mention of a car club, the things that may give it a negative connotation. They thought that violence and boisterousness were fun, and they acted immature.
“Back then it was cool to have the thug mentality to where that’s kind of what it ended up turning into. Almost like a gang. We didn’t originally want it to be that,” said Pueschel, “It just got us to the point where people started going to jail and all that kind of stuff, and we were like, ‘Y’know, this isn’t what we wanted it to be. We shouldn’t be doing this stuff anyways.’”
The club was shut down only about a year after its founding, and the friend group started to fall apart. People drifted apart. Smiley even moved to Minnesota.
There was some time where the car club didn’t exist.
That was until Smiley moved back from Fairmont in 2021, and restarted the club.
“I started it with a couple friends I was working with,” said Smiley. “About a week after I started it again, a good friend of mine in Fairmont called and said, ‘Are we still using the name?’ and I told him it’s kind of a coincidence he asked me because we just restarted. We ended up having a meeting, and we were on the phone for probably two and a half hours going over some of the smaller rules and everything, and that’s pretty much where it started again. And then it kinda grew from there.”
Since it was refounded, the four original members all have their own roles in the club. Smiley, the president, Pueschel, the sergeant at arms, Donald “Yoda” Johnson, the secretary, and Tony “Brick” Voll, the vice president. Manny “Fresh” Smith also has a role as enforcer.
“I’m the right hand to the sergeant in arms,” said Smith. “I enforce the rules and bylaws we have in place.”
Helping to start the growth of the club, and show the inclusivity, Pueschel’s wife, Elizabeth “Ducky” Pueschel, naturally wanted to be a part of the club.
“At the time there were no female members so I wanted to open that door to show that everyone was welcome,” said Ducky. If at any of the club’s events a rubber duck or a few are spotted, it can be counted on that she had something to do with it.
Speaking of the club’s events, they have events throughout the year, but most of the publicly accessible ones are held in the summer months.
“Usually we wanna try to get one toward the beginning of summer for our Night Glow Show, and another one at the end of summer where it starts to get dark earlier,” said Smiley.
Over the summer, following their first night glow show and preceding their last, they all get together on Thursday nights at Pleasant Hill Diner to hang out and be together as a club. Most, if not all, of the members of the Des Moines chapter try to be there. As the sun goes down, their lights on their cars start to come up. With cars and trucks of all sizes, it certainly is a spectacle to see.
Not only do they come together to have fun and light up the night, but they have three goals in mind for the near future: growing, giving back, and redefining how they are seen.
As they grow their crew and recruit new members, they’re also teaming up with another car club to give back. The drive that Public Disturbance is participating in is in partnership with ShowTyme Riderz. They are collecting clothes, hats, gloves, as well as toys, for the less fortunate. They said socks, especially, are in very high demand.
“Also doing a toy drive for the less fortunate,” said Pueschel. “There’s one of the guys in the other club that refurbishes bikes, or collects bikes, for people so that way people there have a source of transportation. Make sure these kids have something to ride instead of watching all these other kids that’re out in their neighborhood.”
These clothes and toys are being collected at Grounds For Celebration coffee shop in Beaverdale.
The club has also adopted Ewing Park, gathering together every few months to collect all the trash and clean up the park, and are hoping to adopt a nearby highway.
Through giving back, they’re not only trying to help people who are growing up how they did, or worse, but they’re also trying to show that they aren’t the bad guys.
“We love what we do, we love our communities. We’ve all grown up in the worst areas, low income places, and we’re just trying to reach out to them to help them as much as possible,” said Smiley.
Their goal is to give back and show that they’re here for good.
“We’re just trying to show people we’re approachable, we’re here to help, we’re here to be a part of the community, and we’re not gonna go anywhere because this is our passion,” said Pueschel.
Every member of this club, this community, this family, believes in the same mission.
“We’ve created a family within our club and the community we’re a part of. We’re not just known for our cars, loud systems, and crazy lights but hopefully as a club that is there, not just for their members, but for anybody and everybody that may need a helping hand. Life is tough, but it’s a lot easier and more fun when you’ve got a group like these guys that have your back no matter what,” said Ducky.
